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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 5, 1987)
Thursday, November 5,1987/The Battalion/Page 3 State and Local A&M’s shot at boosting research New space-grant law increases By Janet Goode Reporter President Reagan on Friday signed into law legislation creating space-grant universities and a fellowship program to support graduate students doing space research. The legislation, initiated by Texas A&M Presi dent Frank Vandiver, was originally patterned after the land- and sea-grant concepts, which fo cus on research and dissemination of the find ings to benefit the public. Vandiver has been dubbed “father of the space-grant program” by Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, who introduced the legislation into Congress. The National Aeronautic and Space Adminis tration will administer the program and set guidelines for space-grant university charters. Vandiver has said A&M will be first in line to ap ply when the federal guidelines are set. Chris Peacock, Bentsen’s assistant press secre tary, said, “A&M has distinguished itself already in the area of space, so they are in a good position for obtaining this designation.” A&M is already designated as a land- and sea- grant university and has been involved in space- related research for more then 25 years, Van diver said in a previous Battalion interview. More than 100 scientists, engineers and grad uate students are now involved in space research here, primarily through the Texas Engineering Experiment Station Space Research Center. Vandiver said becoming a space-grant univer sity would mean more money for research, which would bring more industry to the area. Bentsen said NASA has a graduate research program which provides funds for about 80 new scholars each year. In the 1960s, by contrast, NASA supported an average of 500 doctoral stu dents a year, he said. “This created a natural intellectual resource on which we have drawn ever since,” Bentsen said. More than 56 percent of NASA’s scientists and engineers are now over 45 years old, he said. “The space-grant and fellowship programs will help us train a new generation of space scien tists,” he said. Vandiver has said if A&M is selected to be a space-grant university, it would be the only insti tution to have all three types of programs. on Monda of the rooii action of th ost the com atmosphert ds and expc >tead of coa are forcedit new profei ke the class w-off. Inevi son who gel illy make the ip struggling vas going to avoid are Quotes note-taking nately detri- ;. You will be ou do go M d daydream -Quotes wili ,. Or so you person ;, cannot be g that takes re and write doing you > red notes are r own hand [o totally ig- n so far. M m y decision the above high quabtj •s it’s a chal- ere. rnalistn Battalion . But we ■ lerick is a ters, and ours, and who’s room i who enow so I al staff effort to ide the Man dies after falling off tower SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A construction worker fell 290 feet from a television tower to his death and officials are investigat ing whether the man unhooked his harness, authorities said. Robert William Lawrence, be lieved to be in his late 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. “Nobody actually saw it hap pen,” medical examiner’s investi gator Eva Hickman said. “They just heard him scream and saw him falling.” Lawrence, who lived in Annis ton, Ala., had been wearing a har ness, and it appeared to be unda maged, but sneriffs investigators did not know if it had been hooked to the tower. Sheriffs Sgt. Roger Sauseda, said, “It’s intact. It’s not torn or anything.” . Sheriff Harlon Copelan said investigators had not been able to determine what caused the fall, but said it appeared to have been an accident. Texas economy has affect on voter decisions at polls AUSTIN (AP) — Tough eco nomic times seemed to be on the minds of Texas voters who said yes to pari-mutuel betting and no to sev eral economic development propo sals. Gambling at the race track was le galized for the first time in half a century Tuesday, and supporters and critics agreed the promise of jobs in a new racing industry was a powerful lure. “The people of the state realize that the breeding and raising of horses is big money,” said Sen. O.H. “Ike” Harris, R-Dallas, a legislative sponsor of horse-race betting since 1975. The racing industry also boasted new job possibilities. One of the opponents of the mea sure, Gary McNeil of the Baptist Christian Life Commission, said: “We could not overcome the mes sage about jobs.” Pari-mutuel wagering was one of two referendums tacked on to a re cord-long ballot of 25 proposed amendments, which exceeded the previous high of 16 in 1966. Fifteen of the amendments were approved, eight failed and two were uncertain with-<he election count of a surprisingly high turnout still short of 100 percent Wednesday. Gov. Bill Clements said he voted for every proposal on the ballot, and he pledged to make the racing sys tem “second to none.” With 98 percent of the precincts reporting, pari-mutuel betting on horses and dogs had been approved statewide by a 57 percent to 43 mar gin, 1,224,809 to 927,868. The other referendum did not fare as well. Dallas billionaire H. Ross Perot, a leader in Texas’ educa tional reform movement, said Wednesday that higher-than-ex- pected voter turnout in rural Texas defeated the push to keep the State Board of Education appointed. “We talk about a big turnout, and it’s only 20 percent,” — actually 30 percent — Perot said. “Eight out of 10 who could have voted didn’t do so,” Perot said. “That’s the saddest part of all.” The outcome means the 15 board of education races will be on the bal lot next year, with the winners tak ing office in January 1989. The board had been an elected panel from 1949 until the education re form bill of 1984, which was shep herded through the Legislature by Perot. Perot’s group spent about $ 1 mil lion on the campaign in which Perot and several state leaders contended the appointed board would be more likely to continue the efforts of the education reform movement. Sharing attention with track wa gering and the education board were eight proposed amendments grouped under the unofficial head ing of “Build Texas.” The basis for the amendments was to create jobs through the issuance of $1.9 billion in bonds for local public works-type projects and private enterprises, as well as prisons, mental health facili ties and water development. Basic cable rates may be lowered in College Station By Jill Radenbaugh Reporter Concern about College Sta tion’s basic cable television pack age has raised the possibility of a new franchise agreement that could lower the price of the of the city’s basic package. Bryan has a basic cable package of five channels for $4.50 a month, but College Station’s basic cable package is 30 channels for $16.95 a month. College Station residents don’t have the option to buy a package with less than 30 channels. College Station Mayor Larry Ringer said he has had some com plaints about the difference in rates between the two cities. “We’re trying to get a better feel for exactly how many people really want a smaller cable pack age,” Ringer said. “If enough people are concerned about the matter, then we will take a look at changing our base package.” Ringer said when McCaw Communications Inc., now Cooke Cablevision, in 1984 took over Community Cablevision and Midwest Video, the city renewed their franchise agreement and chose not to have the five-channel package as its base package. At that time, the five channels didn’t even include the three major net works. “The opinion at that time was that the package would not bene fit the majority,” Ringer said. “A- bout 90 percent of the people in College Station would not be hap- PY” . .. The issue of cable rates in the two cities is quite confusing, Peggy Calliham, College Station public information officer, said. “As I understand it, College Station decided on the base rate for cable first,” Calliham said. “They decided on a larger pack age because they thought it would benefit more people.” A base package is the only deci sion a city is allowed to make about the rates of the cable com pany because of deregulation, Calliham said. “College Station chose the larger package because they thought it would keep the cable “If enough people are concerned about the (cable) matter, then we will take a look at chan ging our base package. ” — College Station Mayor Larry Ringer company from raising the rates too much,” Calliham said. “By choosing a larger package, the city was able to regulate the price of what they thought was the most popular package. Whereas, if they chose the smaller package as a base package, the cable com pany would be able to regulate the price for the larger, more common packages.” Where cable is concerned, it appears that the city has little room to say anything because of all the deregulation Taws, Ringer said. College Station had no idea what Bryan would decide for their base rate for cable, Calliham said. But in effect, Bryan got a better deal, she said. John Southard, systems man ager of Cooke Cablevision, said only about 2 percent of Bryan ca ble subscribers have chosen the five-channel package. “The five-channel package is not really a popular one,” South ard said. “We only have about 400 subscribers for that package." LITTLE CAESART ASKS: HOW MUCH MORE HAVE YOU BEEN PAYING FOR "FREE" DELIVERY? Little Caesar Mugs Now Available ipaz®© A Cool Night of Hot Jazz featuring Kirk WhaluHI and special guest preformance by TTJ1 j S Wednesday Nov. 11, 1987 7:30 p.m. Rudder Auditorium Tickets: $10. non students $8. students Available at Rudder Box Office presented by MSC Black Awareness Committee For more info, call 845-1234 Sure, that other place may advertise “free” delivery. But when you’re paying so much more for the pizza, “free” delivery can be pretty expensive. Come to Little Caesars® where you always get two delicious pizzas at one low price. VALUABLE COUPON VALUABLE COUPON j HUE PIZZA Buy any size Original Round pizza at regular price, get identical pizza FREE! Price varies depending on slie and number of toppings ordered. Valid with coupon at participating Little Caesars. Carry Out Only. B-Th-11-5 Expires: 12-10-87 2 BIG PIZZAS 1 Medium 3 item for $9 75 plus tax | B-Th-11-5 Expires: 12-10-87 Extra items and extra cheese available _ at additional cost. 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